Boston - Climate change already reshaping South Shore coastline

Even after wind-whipped tides crested the sea wall and surged past Mike and Cyndy Cotter’s home, the Quincy couple had no thoughts of abandoning the property, which overlooks Quincy Bay and the distant Boston skyline.

The storm surge left a foot of frigid seawater in the their living room. Today, the first floor, still down to the studs, sits on a new 10-foot-tall concrete foundation, which they hope will be high enough to protect their home from rising sea levels and ever stronger storms that may threaten it.

The Cotters grew up in and near their tiny Post Island neighborhood, which they now share with four generations of family, and have no intention of leaving. What they don’t know is what will be left of it by the time their 7-year-old grandson is their age.

“We’re looking down the road and what’s he going to inherit?” Mike Cotter said. “Not just whether he gets our house eventually or not, but whether he’s going to be able to live in our neighborhood or not is the bigger question.”

Shell’s recent success in the US Gulf of Mexico includes its deepwater Dover discovery on Mississippi Canyon 612, reported last year, near its Appomattox platform. The well was drilled by the Deepwater Poseidon ultra-deepwater drillship. Sources: Shell, Transocean.

In lieu of the traditional shovel groundbreaking, Miami City Commission chair Ken Russell, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Miami city manager Emilio T. Gonzalez (pictured l-r) perform the ceremonial water toss to mark the start of the first Miami Forever Bond project tackling flooding and sea-level rise. (Photo by City of Miami Office of Communications)